Sexuality, power and ethics on campus: approaches through the social sciences
Overview
- Credit value: 30 credits at Level 7
- Convenor and tutor: Charlie Jeffries
- Assessment: a 2000-word methods essay (20%) and 5000-word research essay (80%)
Module description
When #MeToo went viral in 2017, urgent attention was called to sexual violence within all industries and institutions - and fresh light was shed on abuses of power at universities across the world. The fact that all parts of campus life held the potential for sexual and other forms of abuse was not news, however, to former and current student feminist, anti-racist and queer activists, who had been campaigning for many years for safer campuses, for their lived experience to be taken into account in the classroom and for justice. Outside of institutions of higher education, sexual violence on campus, sexual power and ethics, and activist responses to sexual harm at universities have increasingly been the focus of documentaries, books and public debate in recent years.
This module will explore the changing conversation about sexual violence on campus in the US and UK in recent history. We will explore the many important questions that arise from this history, including: What about the educational and domestic aspects of campus life have historically engendered sexual harm? How have student activists involved in the struggle for inclusive and safe campuses fought back against violence and abuses of power? How well has the media captured this activism?
In addition to the substantive discussion of this history, this course will ask you to consider the merits and limitations of various social science approaches to this subject matter. You will think through the research ethics that must be considered when selecting a methodological approach to working on this topic and others that arise in your graduate work.
Learning objectives
By the end of this module, you will:
- have engaged with present and historical debates on sexuality, power and harm on campus
- have reflected critically on the historiographical and theoretical field
- be familiar with the history of these debates and activist responses to them in the US and UK in recent history
- have used relevant literature and methodologies to analyse primary sources
- understand both the value and limitations of various approaches in the social sciences, and decide which methods most suit your research on this topic and your other graduate work
- have produced a substantial research paper on the topic.